Judge rejects 2nd appeal by ND commodities broker

A judge has reconsidered and rejected an appeal by a Minot commodities broker who says he was too sick to represent himself in an investment fraud case.

Associated Press

A judge has reconsidered and rejected an appeal by a Minot commodities broker who says he was too sick to represent himself in an investment fraud case.

Federal Judge Ralph Erickson agreed to take a second look at the complaint by Frederick Keiser Jr., who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2007 after a jury found him guilty of bilking investors out of millions of dollars.

Erickson in 2011 ruled that Keiser could not prove that a blood infection affected his capacity to defend himself or decide whether he should use a lawyer. The judge decided to reconsider the appeal because Keiser said he had new evidence.

Erickson says Keiser did an adequate job defending himself and could not show the outcome would be different with a lawyer.

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